SMART I. T. Keith R. Krueger
Forging a connection between technology and financial leaders is key to any digital transformation.
Making the CFO Your BFF
Smart IT is a new quarterly column examining ways that
district technology leaders can navigate digital transformations,
both strategically and tactically, in an era of
limited budgets.
hat enables some school districts to
always find the financial resources for
technology, while many ( perhaps most)
districts never truly get beyond vision
statements? Increasingly, the evidence
points to the importance of building a strong partnership
between your chief financial officer and your chief
technology officer. That partnership seems to be the
“ secret sauce” that can go a long way toward enabling
a digital transformation. So if you’re a CTO, a crucial
question you must answer is, in today’s language, how
do you make your CFO your BFF? ( In case you have
been working in an educational time warp, BFF means
“ best friend forever.”)
Education is not the only industry in which CTOs and
CFOs don’t always see eye- to- eye. A quick search of
technology publications provides an avalanche
of evidence that inter- departmental
communication is a major problem in other
sectors as well. ( See the sidebar on page 16
for examples.) Typical complaints about IT
from the financial side of the house include
the following:
Inability to align technology to the
mission of the organization ( which in
education must be learning)
Failure to show the value of investments
in technology
Lack of a common language and an
overreliance on techno- speak when
communicating about technology
Similarly, I constantly hear grumblings from
frustrated CTOs who can’t get the resources
to implement their visions because the CFO is implementing
across- the- board cuts or doesn’t see the value
of new technology investments. I could launch into a
litany of other challenges and complaints from both
perspectives, but let’s focus on what some innovative
district CTOs are doing to change that situation. I recently
spoke to key leaders in my organization, the Consortium
for School Networking ( CoSN), as well as the
| MARCH 2013 13
VIDEO: Keith R. Krueger gives technology leaders seven great
tips on how to build and maintain cordial working relationships
with their financial counterparts.
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